Isolation
by Dolphingirl32173
Summary: My take on what could have happened during Elena's time locked up in a vampire holding cell in the boarding house basement and how they finally got her to turn her humanity back on. Be warned, big plot twists and long story to come. Damon/Elena - RATING UPPED FOR CHAPTER 3 ON!
1. Oh, Goody, I Get Clothes

Isolation  
DG32173

Sarah: an idea I had while at the doctor's office. Good thing I had a notebook and pen to write it down on. I do so hope you enjoy what you read.

_**DISCLAIMER**_  
I only own what I write as it is written. Don't steal.

_**WARNINGS**_  
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE! Rated T for cursing. The chapters alternate between Elena's and Damon's views. You have been warned.

_**SUMMARY**_  
My take on what could have happened during Elena's time locked up in a vampire holding cell in the boarding house basement and how they finally got her to turn her humanity back on.. _**Damon/Elena**_

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Chapter 1  
Oh, Goody, I Get Clothes

**Elena**

I always wanted to ask Damon or Stefan what it's like being dosed up with vervaine and locked in one of the vampire holding cells in the boarding house basement, but I never had the courage to actually go through with it. Well, now I finally have my answer from firsthand experience. The vervaine hurts like a bitch as it attacks my system. And being locked up down here is a lot like being put in isolation and denied the only antidote to the vervaine in my system. That's right. They're withholding the blood I need to live and also need to expel this toxin from my system.

Sure, I have plenty of 'visitors' dropping by to tell me that they'll let me out and give me blood if I would just turn my humanity back on. They're more like nuisances than visitors, really. There's only three things I want before I will _consider_ turning my humanity switch back on and dealing with all the emotional crap that goes with it. One, blood to stop this godforsaken pain. Two, the only visitor I _haven't_ gotten but who I know damn well has been in this cell when I'm asleep, the one who my inner vampire thinks of as my mate: Damon Salvatore. And three, here's the kicker, my little brother back from the grave. The first two I'm being denied. And it's pretty much impossible to bring the truly dead back to life, or so I've been told. But I've seen crazier things happen. So with my three conditions on the 'not happening' list, why should I turn my humanity back on just to please _them?_ If they cared about me like they claim they do, they'd find _someway_ to accommodate me. The fact that they haven't even let me have the first two, which are quite easy to do, proves that they just want the side of me that's overwhelmed by emotions and caring back. They don't seem to realize that what they are seeing in me now is _also_ part of who I am. This is just the side of me who looks out for number one _only._

I examine my nails as I hear footsteps coming down the stairs to the basement. They aren't Damon's, so I don't care who has decided to try to talk me around this time. I'm just wearing the very risqué lingerie that I had worn under Caroline's dream prom dress the day they managed to take me down. I had an idea of what they were trying to do when I saw the slideshows lining the walk up to the doors leading into the high school's gymnasium. They were trying to make me miss my old life. It _almost_ worked, too. But then I was reminded why I actually went along with the sire bond and flipped off my humanity because, what do you know, a picture of my brother and I popped up. So that little plan backfired in their faces because of that one picture.

I'm surprised, as much as I can be, that is, no one realized what my cry for _Damon's_ protection when I thought Bonnie was seriously going to kill me actually meant. Little news flash, my so-called friends, even with my humanity switch flipped off, even without a sire bond forcing me to be an eager-to-please puppy towards him, Damon Salvatore is _still_ the one I turn to when I can't face the world alone. If I had known that there was only one dose of the cure to vampirism, I would have found the strength to break the sire bond myself because I refuse to become human again if he was still going to be a vampire. Nuh-uh, not happening. Because I have a funny feeling that once a vampire takes the cure, they won't be able to be changed _back_ into a vampire. They'd just die and _stay_ dead. I refuse to grow old and wrinkly and eventually _die_ while Damon stays young and handsome for eternity. And I know that he feels the same damn way about me.

Maybe if I hadn't been so determined to fight the feelings I had for him as a human, which were what _caused_ the sire bond to even appear, things would be different and I'd still have my brother. But I'm placing his death on the hands of my so-called friends, even if Katherine was the one to actually use him to revive Silus so that she could steal the cure and Silus was the one who snapped Jeremy's neck. If the idiots who have the nerve to call themselves my friends hadn't been so damn stupid as to think the sire bond affected how I felt about Damon rather then just affecting my actions, then Jeremy would be alive and I wouldn't have let Damon use the sire bond to flip my switch. If they had just talked to Tyler about it, found out the details, because, _hell,_ he was sire bound to _Klaus!_ He only had the help of a werewolf as he worked to break free of the sire bond. He should know better than anyone _what_ it means to be sire bound to someone and what causes the sire bond to form as well as what the effects of it are. I was smart. I talked to Tyler when I found out what they were up to behind my back. He told me every damn detail about the sire bond. And here I thought Damon was _smart._ He should have gone to Tyler and found out the details before caving into peer pressure.

"You know, if you're just going to stand out there, you could at least have the decency to tell me who my latest visitor is," I remark dryly. "I'm not going to get up and come look out the little barred window to find out for myself."

A familiar huff is followed by the bolt sliding back and the door opening to reveal my car-stealing buddy, Rebekah. And she's carrying a duffel bag. "I don't see why they're doing this," she comments. "The old you was such a bore. Anyways, I brought you the clothes you got on our road trip."

"About time I was allowed something decent," I mutter, getting to my feet. It's been two days since they put me down here. "It's a little cold down here."

"Someone left you a sweater," she points out, motioning to the Mystic Falls High sweater I have been ignoring since yesterday morning.

I shrug. "I'm not wearing _Stefan's_ clothes. They can take it right back to his room. They could even burn it for all I care," I say, taking the duffle bag from her. I set it on the princess bed someone had hauled down her for me to sleep on. I've been sleeping on the floor only to wake up in the bed. And I know _exactly_ who's putting me there. Even when he refuses to let me see him, Damon still takes care of me. I search through the clothes, searching for the black long-sleeved John Varvatos men's button-down that I got because it reminded me of Damon as well as the black skinny jeans I got because they made my ass look good.

I catch Rebekah's eye roll from the corner of my bag just as I find the shirt. "You look hungry," she remarks.

"Well, they're not letting my have any blood until I flip my switch back on," I reply tightly, slipping into the shirt and buttoning it up.

"Sucks to be you right now," Rebekah mutters. "I tried to slip you some blood but they made carefully inspected everything in the duffle and took the blood-bag away."

"How considerate of them," I say sarcastically, digging for my skinny jeans. "Thanks for the effort, I guess."

"So, if you know you're going to desiccate if you don't flip your switch on, why haven't you?" she asks curiously just as I find my jeans.

I sit on the bed to pull my jeans on. "I told them my three conditions for turning my switch on, two of which are perfectly reasonable and relatively simple. But all three are on the 'not happening' list. So I told them if even the two reasonable ones aren't going to be met, then I'm not going to turn my switch on and they can just watch me desiccate. My bet is that they won't be able to bring themselves to go so far as to let me completely desiccate," I reply, standing up to pull my jeans up over my ass. I zip them up and fasten the button." But, then, why should I care? It's not like it'll matter to me either way. My so-called friends refused to learn the truth about the sire bond, thinking they knew everything about it when they've never _been_ sire bound. I went straight to the only person I knew who had been sire bound and had worked his ass off to break it. Tyler told me every little detail and to say I was pissed that they didn't bother finding out the facts before assuming the thing affected my feelings was an understatement. It's because of them that my brother is dead and that I'm like this. So apparently they aren't really my friends. Not that I need any," I say matter-of-factly. "What do I care how they feel? Two of my conditions are extremely simple to fulfill. The third one will require a lot more thought, homework, and most likely a powerful witch. But I'm _sure_ it can be done. I've seen crazier things happen."

"Mind sharing your conditions?" Rebekah asks curiously.

"One, a blood bag so that I can ease some of this goddamn pain from the vervaine they injected into me when they took me down two days ago. Two, even a _glimpse_ of Damon would be a nice change of pace. And three, the somewhat harder one, bring my brother back from his too-early grave. It's _their_ fault he's dead. They should find _some_ way to fix their mistake," I reply. "They decided that my feelings for Damon _had_ to be because of the sire bond. They didn't bother to do a little research or even ask Tyler. The sire bond _only_ affects the _actions_ of the sire bound vampire, not the feelings. It takes powerful feelings for the sire to _create_ a sire bond in the first place. They didn't want to believe that, so they made up their own little lies and decided those little lies were the truth. Which lead to a search for a way to break the sire bond so that I could be 'free' to run right back into Stefan's overprotective arms. Fat fucking chance. I fought my feelings for Damon since the day I woke up in his car in Georgia. That was over a year and a half ago." I shrug. "But, that was then, and this is now. _Now_ I'm truly free to do as _I_ want instead of by the girl who wanted to please everyone _but_ herself. In the time since Georgia right up until I actually hooked up with Damon, I was downright _miserable._ But I must've put on a _damn_ good show of being happy. Because they apparently bought it hook, line, sinker, and the whole damned fishing rod for that matter. I had just over twenty-four hours of _true_ happiness. Then the sire bond was proven to exist and, bam, bye-bye happiness. And now my brother is _dead._ So, why should I switch my humanity back on just to be miserable all over again? Not much of an incentive, is it?"

"I've only encountered one other sire bond that was broken like yours was, with the bound vampire having their humanity switch flipped off," Rebekah comments, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Do tell," I say, smirking.

"The bound vampire's emotions were destroying her sanity, so her sire had her switch off her humanity. When her humanity switch was finally flipped back on, she was still madly in love with her sire, but the sire bond never returned," Rebekah replies. "They became eternal mates soon after that. Then I encountered another pair connected by a sire bond. The way _they_ got rid of the sire bond was by _becoming_ eternal mates. The mating bond overrode the sire bond. The only other time I've heard of a sire bond being broken without the sire forcing the bound vampire to forget they ever existed to live their life without the sire was in the case of Niklaus and his hybrids. And on the vampires whose sires forcefully destroyed the sire bond, it took them decades, sometimes _centuries_ to become remotely like who they were before they were turned. Even then, shattering the bond that way leaves a permanent impact on the formerly bound vampire. It rarely ends prettily. Trust me, Elena, you got off easy in the breaking of your bond."

"And I'm sure that whoever might be upstairs has heard every word we just said," I remark dryly. "It's remarkable the way this basement is designed. You can barely make out sounds of what's going on upstairs from down here but when your upstairs, a vampire can hear every damn sound down here. Nice way to keep a watch on the prisoners without having to be down here."

Rebekah glances at her watch. "Well, my allotted time with you is up," she says. "Even if you do turn your humanity back on, don't go letting them push you around again. You're way more fun when you run your life yourself rather than letting others run it for you."

"I'll keep that in mind," I remark as Rebekah leaves the cell. The door had been left unlatched but I've learned not to try sneaking out when they do that after one failed attempt. Someone would just be waiting to dart me with vervaine again and lock me right back up. Two darts worth of vervaine in my system is already causing me enough pain. I'm not going to go for three.

Rebekah shots the cell behind her and whoever was waiting to dart me should I try to escape latches it.

If my vampire instincts are any indication, it's just after sunset. I'm getting an increased urge to go out and hunt, and that usually kicks up right after the sun completely sets but leaves some light in the sky. I feel my fangs trying to show themselves but I force them back into hiding. I'm not going to risk nicking my lower lip or tongue and tasting my own vervaine laced blood. That would be even worse than no blood at all. I glance at the tray of food that had been left in here sometime last night while I was asleep. All my favorite breakfast foods. But Damon had been right that day in Georgia when he said a healthy diet of blood let a vampire's body act pretty much like a human's. I just didn't realize that the reverse was also true. Being denied the blood I need to live, not to mention having two darts worth of vervaine in my system, is making the thought of human food pretty nauseating. I decide to at least drink some of the orange juice to get some moisture in my mouth and down my throat. The vervaine is leaving both very dry and with a nasty taste on my tongue.

I walk over, pick up the glass, and put it to my lips. I grimace at the taste but swallow a mouthful. I remind myself that Damon would _not_ give me rotten food, that the nasty taste is purely from being deprived of blood and having vervaine in my system. I set the glass back down after that one mouthful anyways. "I'll just have water tomorrow; don't bother cooking food or fixing juice I won't eat or drink," I remark, knowing he can hear me upstairs.

The longer I go without blood, the harder it is to think clearly and rationally. It's even harder when I know that right up the hall from me, at the foot of the stairs, is a room with a deep fridge _full_ of blood bags. The longer I go without blood, the more my vampire instincts take over. It's fascinating to learn how the vampire in me thinks, in a primeval sort of way. But it would also be a little scary if I had my humanity switch on. Thank God I don't.

I look around, trying to figure out where I'll sleep tonight. Or for at least as much of the night Damon lets me sleep away from the princess bed. I decide to sleep across the door. It won't prevent it from opening since it opens outwards rather than inwards. But it's as good a place in this cell to sleep as any that doesn't include the princess bed. Seriously, how did they get that thing down here? Ah, well, doesn't matter. I stretch out on my side facing the door. I curl my arm under my head for a pillow, close my eyes, and proceed to force my body to relax in spite of the pain I'm in from the vervaine. I soon drift off to sleep.


	2. On Thin Ice

Isolation  
DG32173

Sarah: here's chapter two of _Isolation._ This is Damon's chapter. I hope you enjoy. Be warned if major plot twists this chapter.

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Chapter 2  
On Thin Ice

**Damon**

I listen as Elena's breathing slows down and as her already-slower-than-human heartbeat follows suit as she falls asleep. I take a sip of my bourbon before placing it on the end table next to my chair. It's very difficult to resist the urge to through the glass into the fire. Elena's right. Because we didn't take the time to find out the facts about the sire bond, we decided that she couldn't possibly be in love with me. And in searching for a way to break the bond, we ended up getting her little brother killed. Which in turn led to this whole fiasco we're now facing of getting her to turn her emotions _back_ on. She hadn't tried to resist when I had her turn her humanity off. I would have _felt_ it if she had tried to resist just like I had _felt_ her trying to resist my orders to take her ass home from the lake house while I trained her brother to kill vampires.

It sucks to know that our refusal to believe her about the facts of the sire bond ended up with the kid dead. He didn't deserve to die, not like that. And she didn't deserve to lose her kid brother so soon and in such an awful fashion.

"She's right, you know," I sigh. The others stay silent, which is their way of admitting that they see it, too. "It's our fault we're in this mess. It's our fault the kid's dead. It's our fault that she feels she has no reason to flip her humanity back on."

"What are we supposed to do about it?" Caroline asks.

Suddenly the front door opens and in comes little miss witch, carrying what looks like Emily's grimiore. "I think I have a way of setting things right," she says breathlessly, as if she had run the whole way here. Given that I hadn't heard her car drive up, there's a good chance she did just that.

"What are you talking about?" I demand.

"I found a spell in Emily's grimiore that can bring back to life someone who had died before their time. I went to the witches' house to seek guidance. They weren't very happy with the way I've been acting or all I did to help Silas and they made that very clear to me. But they gave me a way of atoning for the all the trouble we kicked up," she says, shoving her hair out of her face. "It ties in with Emily's spell, and it's going to require all of us to make it work. But if we succeed, we can send Silas back to his crypt _and_ bring Jeremy back to life. They said that there were two other premature deaths we can undo with this spell."

Hope starts to fill me for the first time in several weeks. But my instincts caution me to get all the facts before hand "Who all are we bringing back, Judgy?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Rick is one," she says. Then she turns to Stefan. "And I'm told you could tell me who Lexi is?" she says in a way that makes it clear that she's asking a question.

I sigh. "I'm going to end up getting punched by her," I tell the witch when it becomes clear that Stefan's too overcome with shock to respond. "Lexi was Steffie's best friend who I happened to kill to save my own skin back near the beginning of your junior year. Last time one of your spells brought back the dead, she wasn't very happy to see me but she was more concerned with getting Steffie back on the veggie diet. _Please_ tell me you know what your doing this time."

"The spirits who take up residence in the witches' house are going to use their power to make sure that the only influence on this spell is from us. Esther isn't going to butt her nose in this time, nor will any other ghosts for that matter," Bonnie says reassuringly.

"So, what do we need?" Stefan asks.

"We will need two red candles and one white candle, each representing one of the people we're bringing back. We will also need a black candle, to represent Silas. We'll also need something strongly connected to each of the people we're bring back. A _glass_ bowl half-filled with purified water. I was given a spell to purify tap water for magical uses," she says.

"We've got a problem already," I cut in. "Elena kind of burned her house to the ground. _Everything_ of Jeremy's was inside when it went up in flames."

"Not everything," Bonnie admits. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out an intricate gold ring with a diamond on top and a matching gold band. "Jeremy gave me an envelope before we went to the island in search of the cure. He told me that I was not to open it unless something happens to him. I didn't understand what he was talking about. He said he just wanted me to hold onto it, just in case. He said if nothing comes from the trip but us getting the cure, he'd like it back, unopened." She takes a breath. "Well, I finally got around to opening the envelope. In it was these rings and a letter saying that if I was reading it, then obviously something had happened to him and he wanted me to know that he had been hoping to propose to me after all the dust settled. He said he had picked out these rings for the two of us and worked his ass off at The Grill to get them out of layaway after he used some of the funds his parents left him to make the initial down payment." She picks up the intricate gold band. "This was to be his, and the spirits assured me that the connection between it and his ghost is more than strong enough to bring him back. Now we just need something belonging to Rick and Lexi."

"I've got Rick's favorite whiskey glass that he used every time he was here," I say, rising from my seat and heading over to the display cabinet next to the alcohol cabinet. I carefully pick up the glass I had personally engraved his name into. "Steffie, you're bound to have something that belonged to Lexi, right?" I ask, gently trailing a finger over the engraving on the glass.

"I have the mood ring I won for her at a fair in the seventies," he replies. "Before you killed her, she joked about trading it for my daylight ring. I took it from her hand while you were grabbing a shovel so you could bury her. That was the first time it was taken off since she put it on right after I won it for her. I'll get it." He rises from the couch and vamps up to his room to find the ring.

"Are those good enough?" I ask the witch.

"I'm sure they are," Bonnie replies.

"One last thing," I say. "Will Rick still be super-crazy vampire-hunting Original Rick? Or will he be _our_ Rick, the guy he was _before_ Esther messed with him?"

"In a way, he will be both," Bonnie replies uneasily as Stefan returns, the mood ring in his hand.

"Explain," I demand.

"The only reason this spell will bring them back from the dead is _because_ they were supernatural beings whose ghosts got stuck on the Other Side rather than being allowed to move on. As one of the Brotherhood of the Five Hunters, Jeremy became a supernatural being, which was why the Gilbert ring stopped working on him. Rick was an Original when he died. And Lexi was a vampire. All supernaturals. Which means that their ghosts could very easily be in this room with us, watching us but unable to interact with us or let us know that they're here," Bonnie explains.

"Creepy notion," I remark dryly.

"The Other Side is like a limbo for the supernatural when they reach their final death. It traps them on the same plane as the living but they can't _interact_ with the living world and we can't even see them. Jeremy's ability to see spirits on the Other Side was a side-effect of me using the spirits' power to save his life."

"And what does all this mean about Rick? Will he still try to kill us all? Or is he going to be normal everyday, high school history teacher by day, my sidekick-slash-drinking-buddy by night Rick?" I demand.

"He's going to be an Original vampire who can kick your ass if he so wanted to. But when he died as Elena drowned, Esther's spell on him was broken permanently. He'll be our Rick, just in an all-powerful Original vampire body," she says. "He will remember everything he went through and did as Esther's puppet. But he will be _our_ Rick. So, unless you piss him off, you don't have to worry about getting your ass handed to you by him. But he can still do it."

I shake my head. "At least he'll be back," I say finally. "So, we got personal belongings, what else do we need?"

"A glass bowl big enough to hold the personal belongings half-filled with water. I can purify the water before we put the stuff in it," she says.

"Blondie, you know the kitchen just as well as I do. Go find the glass punch bowl we used at Elena's last birthday party. That should be big enough, given how relatively small this stuff is," I order.

"Don't order me around, Damon," Caroline growls even as she heads to the kitchen to find the bowl.

"Okay, while she's getting that, what else?" I ask.

"We need four candles. One black, one white, and two red," Bonnie lists. "Size, scent, and shape doesn't matter, so long as they can stand on their own and they're solid colors.

"Steffie, hand me Lexi's ring and go find the candles. I'm _sure_ we have those colors," I say, holding out my hand. Stefan sighs, puts the ring in my hand, then flicks off to the hall closet where we keep our candles. "What else, Judgy?"

"When they get back, we're going to need to clear a big space in the middle of the room, about ten foot by ten foot. And we have to be all the way down to the wood floor, because I'm going to need to draw a diagram in chalk, which I hope you have because I didn't bring mine. The diagram will be used in both the spell to return life to the deceased and the spell to send Silas back where he belongs."

I roll my eyes. "Do you realize how much this wood floor cost to install?" I demand. "No, don't answer that. It was a _lot. Especially_ for the year we had it installed. Be sure not to ruin my floor with your diagram and spells."

"You should be more concerned with how this spell is going to affect you, Stefan, and I. _We're_ going to be acting as magical focuses to bring them back to life," she says.

"Woah, woah, woah! Back up! When did I agree to act as some magical focus?" I demand.

"If you want to have Rick back, you will have to be a magical focus for his ghost to use to drag himself back to life. You're the closest friend he's got left on this side. I have to act as Jeremy's focus because Elena's not in the right frame of mind to pull it off. And Stefan will act as Lexi's," she says in that too-patient way that tells me she thinks I'm acting like an idiot.

"Don't down talk me, Judgy," I warn her. "I'll do it, for Rick. But you had better tell us the damned side-effects of this _before_ we start so we know what to watch out for."

"Sorry it took so long," Caroline says, coming back with the glass punch bowl half-filled with tap water. "I may be tall, but I still have trouble reaching all the way to the back of the top shelf of your cabinets."

"Set it down there in the doorway, Blondie," I say. "We have to rearrange housekeeping so little miss witch can draw a chalk diagram on my wood floors."

Caroline sighs and sets the bowl down. I vamp over to put Lexi's ring and Rick's whiskey glass down beside it. Then Blondie and I begin moving furniture out of the way and rolling up the rug so that we have a decent-sized clear spot in the middle of my living room. It's a little larger than Judgy's requirements. "I'll get the chalk," I say, vamping up to Zach's old room and grabbing a piece of white chalk from a box of the stuff he had kept on his dresser. I then vamp back to the living room and pass the chalk over to Bonnie. "Do your diagram," I tell her.

The witch takes the chalk and gets down on her hands and knees to begin making a very complicated diagram on the cleared floor. It starts as a perfect circle with a diameter of ten-feet. Then she makes three smaller circles in a triangle each touching an outer edge of the larger one. Then she adds an even smaller one within a equilateral triangle in the very center of the big circle. One corner of the triangle is touching each of the medium-sized circles. Following that, she draws three lines to connect the three medium-sized circles. Then comes the Wiccan writing that looks like a whole bunch of gibberish to me. I'm serious. If I can't read it, I call it gibberish. And I can't read Wiccan. Or understand the spoken version of it either, but that's beside the point.

Finally, she gets up and carefully makes her way out of the diagram. Stefan _finally_ returns with the candles. "First, I have to cast a spell to purify the water," Bonnie says, walking over to the glass punch bowl. She holds her hands flat over the water, palm down. She starts chanting some spell in Wiccan. I watch in fascination as the water turns from tap-water clear to as crystal clear by the time she's done with her spell. "Okay, now to put the personal belongings into the purified water," she says She starts with Rick's whiskey glass, followed by Lexi's mood ring, and then Jeremy's engagement ring. Once all three items are resting in the bottom of the bowl, Bonnie picks it up and carefully maneuvers her way through the diagram to put the bowl in the center circle. She then just as carefully maneuvers back out of the diagram. "Okay, Stefan, I need the red candles and the white one. Give Caroline the black one to hold for now."

"Aren't black candles unlucky or something?" Caroline asks uncertainly as she takes the candle Stefan hands her. He then walks over to hand the other three candles to Bonnie.

"Caroline, I wouldn't ask you to hold something unlucky. Damon, maybe, but not you," Bonnie replies, taking the candles. "Damon, Stefan, each of you get into one of the medium-sized circles _without_ smudging the chalk." I decide it's best not to remind her that as vampires, we wouldn't have smudged the chalk unless we actually _wanted_ to. I take the circle closest to the fireplace and Stefan stands in the one to my left. Bonnie puts a red candle in the gap between the triangle corner touching each of our circles and the ring of the circle around the bowl. She puts the white candle in the third corner, the one touching the circle that she will stand in. She then gets into her own circle. "Okay, whatever you do, _don't leave your circle until I tell you to._ I'm going to channel the two of you so that I can cast the second spell to send Silas back where he belongs. The first spell is only going to be relying on my strength, bolstered by the spirits' power, to be cast. But after that, I will need to tap into additional magical resources for the big one, the one to seal Silas away. And even vampires have magical resources, which is how you guys use your Powers."

"Learn something new everyday," I comment wryly.

"Both spells will have a bit of what you'd call 'magical fireworks'. _It won't hurt you._ Just don't leave your circles until I tell you it's okay. Not even after the first one is done," she says. "Our friends we're bringing back will be out cold for a bit as they readjust to being part of the living world again. The spirits said that whatever other side-effects they might get will be perfectly harmless and easily remedied. I didn't bother asking what that meant."

"Considering the luck those three had when they were alive, they'd all probably come back butt naked," I say, my lips twitching in amusement. Stefan coughs to cover a laugh. Caroline bursts out laughing.

Bonnie blushes. "I didn't need that image before I started a spell, Damon," she admonishes, though she's smiling.

"Well, it lightened the mood," I retort. "Which, by the way, _needed_ to be lightened." I rub my hands together in anticipation. "Now we can get started, right?"

"One last warning," Bonnie says.

I sigh. "Now what?" I ask.

"Be prepared to catch their bodies. You'll notice that the circles your standing in is big enough to hold two people. You'll want to step back to the outer-edge of the circle so you have room to catch them." Stefan and I obey that direction. "The spell will make you feel like you're tugging at something you can't see. Which we are. We're tugging their ghosts into the living world as the spell makes a body for their ghosts to reside in once they get here. It will be just like the body they had right before they died, supernatural status and all," she explains. "The spell banishes anything that was negatively affecting their body at the time, which means Rick won't be trapped behind Esther's spell. He will be the old Rick we all knew and loved.. Just in a super-powerful Original vampire body. And you, Damon, had better be prepared to catch that super-powerful Original vampire body, which will fall into you as soon as the spell is complete. Stefan, you will have to catch Lexi's body. And I will catch Jeremy's. Jeremy, if you're here, you had better not knock me out of this circle or I'll find _some_ way to give _you_ a magical migraine!" she says. "Okay, Stefan, Damon, are you ready?"

"Ready to pull my drinking buddy back from the realm of the dead to the realm of the living non-living people and catch his knocked out body which will likely be butt naked?" I ask, pretending to think on it. "Sure, why not? Let's do this," I say, rubbing my hands together in anticipation.

You want the truth? I'll _love_ having Rick back even if he will be able to kick my ass in a sparring match now. I didn't realize just how close a friend he had become until he was dying his final death in my arms. At the time, I was more concerned about Elena because I knew damn well what Rick's seemingly unexplainable death meant. But as soon as I was sure that Elena was going to be fine – undead, yes, but fine – I have missed my drinking buddy like crazy. And, like a crazy person, I go to his grave and talk to him from time to time. Talk, vent, rant, rave, and the whole shebang. It'll be good to return to feeling _sane_ when I talk to him.

"Just be prepared to catch them," she reminds us one last time. "Caroline, you're to make sure _nothing_ disturbs the diagram _or_ us."

"Got it," Blondie says.

"Okay, Damon, you concentrate on everything you remember about Rick, good _and_ bad. Think about everything that made you choose him for a friend. Stefan, you do the same for Lexi. I'll be doing it for Jeremy," she says. "Candles first," she says, staring at the three candles on the floor in front of us.. After just a second, they appear to light themselves. I've gotten beyond being awed by that trick witches can pull off back when it was Emily doing the trick and I was still human. "Now, focus on the one you're trying to pull back from the dead. Let's begin."

As Bonnie starts chanting in Wiccan, I think about everything I know about Rick, everything that led up to the weird friendship between me, a vampire, and him, a hunter who had originally sought to kill me. I remember the way he'd have my back while I looked out for his on the countless times we were saving Elena from some hare-brained scheme she had come up with to save everyone by sacrificing herself. I remember how he'd look at some accomplishment of Elena's or Jeremy's with this glow of paternal pride in his eyes. He was like a second father to those kids and they looked up to him as such. I remember how he had come after me with foolhardy bravado with just a crossbow and a stake to defend himself after I had taunted him about his wife at the bachelor's raffle. I think about how he'd often call himself a hopeless drunk only for Elena to put a shine of gratitude in his eyes by immediately dismissing that notion. I remember how he'd put himself under the sharp tongue-lashings Elena was giving me for _his_ mistakes, something no one has ever bothered doing for me before. I remember that although scotch was undoubtedly Rick's favorite drink, like my brother's, his _second_ favorite drink is my favorite, bourbon. And it was actually a close second, at that. I force myself to remember the sound his neck made as I snapped it to defend myself from the suicidal maniac who wanted to avenge his wife's 'death'. I remember how after he found out what a bitch Isobel really was, he came to me and told me that while it will be hard to put aside the fact that I had taken his wife from him, he was willing to _try_ to overcome his differences with me if I was willing to do the same with him because we _did_ make a damn good team. That was one of the few times in my long life that my quick wit failed me. I remember how he just flicked me off over his shoulder as he walked away when I called after him that I did him a favor and showed him just where her values lay. He didn't even look over his shoulder as he did so. I admired the balls it took for him to do that. So I decided we could start as drinking buddies and see where we went from there. I remember all the times he pestered me about all the history I've lived through.

I suddenly get the sensation Bonnie mentioned I'd get, the sensation of tugging at something I can't see. I force myself to keep my focus on my memories of Rick as the tempo in the witch's chanting picks up as well as volume. I remember the time he called to give me word that Elena had blackmailed him into taking her to the Smokey Mountains to search for Stefan. I remember how he said that Elena and I were _both_ acting like five-year-olds for arguing in the creek I had pushed her into. I remember how he came over to be my emotional support as soon as he heard what Stefan did to Andie. He's the only one who knows that I had released the compulsion I had put on Andie to love me only three days after she became my girlfriend. He's the only one who knows that Andie had insisted on keeping up the charade. He knows how I had grown attached to Andie while she was smitten with me. He's had let me curse, rant, scream, and yell my heart out about what my brother had done. He even sat there as I cried over the unnecessary death of a friend, albeit he was rather uncomfortable with it. He never told anyone about anything I did that night after I kicked everyone out and managed to get Elena to leave the boarding house. He didn't even tell _Elena_ how badly Andie's death had messed with my mind. All _she_ had been concerned about was the fact that Stefan had called her. Andie had been like a _sister_ to her by the time she was killed, and Elena was more focused on finding Stefan. But Rick was there the one time Elena had failed to see the mental mess I was in. I didn't ask him to show up that night. I didn't ask him to stay and be made uncomfortable by watching a one-hundred-and-seventy-year-old vampire cry. Rick did it all on his own because he knew I needed someone to be there for me. Elena was too caught up in the hunt for Stefan, but Rick was there. After I drank half the alcohol stock in the whole damn boarding house, Rick helped me stumble upstairs to my bed. He even tucked me in and told me I needed to steal Elena's teddy bear one day just to see if she would notice. He had been trying to lighten the mood. But, drunk and full of grief, I pushed that aside and sincerely thanked him for being there when I needed a friend. He had smiled and told me to get some sleep. But his eyes told me that he knew just how rarely I thank people with any sincerity _and_ how very few people I trust enough to call a friend.

The tugging intensifies and suddenly the chalk diagram shoots up purple fire that reaches my shoulders from every chalk mark. I force myself to continue to concentrate on Rick. I think about how he and I fought side-by-side to save Stefan from the tomb vampires. Of how I had been faced with how good a shot he was with that crossbow. I remember him teaching me how to take apart, put together, and fill his homemade grenades. I remember the time he taught me his recipe for making the concentrated vervaine water or wolf's bane water that filled the grenades. I remember him and Liz teaching me to make the concoction they had brewed up to fill a perfume bottle they planned on giving Elena as a safety precaution, made of police-grade mace, wolf's bane, and vervaine. I remember the many times I was impressed by the dangerous toys Rick created himself to take on vampires, werewolves, hybrids, and anything else that should threaten Elena or her friends. I remember how Rick took a turn as jail guard while I was locked down in the basement, dying of a werewolf bite. Admittedly, Liz and some of her officers showing up complicated matters, but still. He was willing to risk his neck to take care of his drinking buddy when I was going mad from the werewolf venom in my system. I could easily have killed him during one of the episodes where I relived my human days as Katherine's loyal pet.

Now it feels like I'm in a one-on-one tug-of-war game with an Original. Admittedly, I kinda am, but that's beside the point. I _refuse_ to lose this game. I force myself to think of never having to visit his grave when I felt the need to talk to him. I think about how great it's going to be to have my friend back in this world as living non-living person rather than a ghost. _Anything's_ better than Ghost Rick. I think about how he's going to rag on me for not taking care of the children as I had promised to, because if he was there for _any_ of my one-sided conversations with him at his grave, _that_ would be the one he chose to be in attendance for. I think about how I finally won't have to worry about freaky side-effects from the Gilbert ring when he and I have each other's backs. I think about how I will finally be able to give him the ring I had Bonnie make him back when he was still possessed by Esther's spell in the case we were able to free him from it. I think about how I'm going to spell out to him _precisely_ how hard it is to find out the ring sizes of _two_ people without either of them finding out about it so I could design a daylight ring for each of them. I think about how he's going to react to seeing the hunter's crest on his daylight ring. Because I'm the only person in this world crazy enough to _actually_ put a _hunter's_ crest on a _vampire's_ daylight ring. But, then, it's not often that you find a semi-retired vampire hunter turned _into_ a vampire. And Rick's the only semi-retired vampire hunter who has the god awful luck of being turned into an Original vampire. He couldn't go for regular vampirism, _no._ He just _had_ to go super-deluxe _Original_ vampirism. And he couldn't stop there, could he? _No!_ He just _had_ to _also_ have an ancient witch use witchy woo-woo from the Other Side to meddle with him while he was out-of-commission due to a Gilbert Ring Supernatural Death. So he ends up this super-deluxe Original vampire with a nasty habit of killing and outing other supernaturals. Way to go, buddy. I always knew that if you became a vampire, you'd have to do it insanely extreme. Couldn't just ask your drinking buddy to feed you some blood, take off your ring, and snap your neck, could you? Nope. And I'm going to let him know just how insane he is once he's back. So, Rick, get your ass over here to the land of the living non-living people where you belong already!

Suddenly, a weight falls against me and I catch Rick's body. I run through my mental checklist. Knocked out? Check. Living non-living person a.k.a. Original vampire? Check. And butt naked? Well, damn, I got it all right because that's a check too.

"You know, Rick, you could have brought some clothes from the Other Side," I tell his knocked out body conversationally. "Surely ghosts have some place to go shopping, right? Ghouls Glory, perhaps?"

"Damon, he's not going to answer you just yet," Bonnie says tiredly. "And we still have one more spell to perform. Caroline, _carefully_ pick your way through the diagram to the center. Blow out the candles and dump them in the bowl with the other stuff."

"The water?" Caroline asks as she picks her way through the diagram.

"Water's gone," Bonnie chuckles.

"How?" Caroline demands.

"Purified water was part of the spell. As I cast the spell, the water was used up. Everything in there should be completely dry. The purity in the water was used to clean away any negative statuses that were attached to them when they died, _including_ death," Bonnie explains. "Take the bowl and set it somewhere outside of the diagram _after_ you place the black candle precisely in the middle of that circle. When you're done moving the bowl, come and take our friends out of the circle as well. Damon, Stefan, and I can't leave our circles until the second spell is complete. And I mean that _literally._ The purple fire that flared up toward the end sealed the three of us inside our circles and the only way to get out is to complete the second spell."

"Nice of you to tell us that _now,"_ I growl.

"The spirits wanted to make sure that we didn't stop with just getting our friends back. They wanted to be absolutely certain that we put Silas back where he belongs in return for getting these three back on this side of the barrier. Caroline, make sure you don't touch the chalk lines. If you do, you'll be stuck in that spot until the second spell is complete," Bonnie says.

"Thanks for the memo, Bonnie," Caroline says, being even more careful where she puts her feet. Finally, she carefully reaches down, picking up each of the three half-burned candles and tossing them in the glass bowl. She then picks up the glass bowl and sets the black candle in it's place. She adjusts the candle minutely until it's exactly in the center. "Okay, leaving the diagram. I'll get the naked people out from the outside," she says, turning carefully before gingerly picking her way back to out of the diagram. She makes it after a couple of close calls. "I'll set the bowl on the coffee table," she tells us.

"Hurry up, Blondie," I growl. "I may be a vampire, but Rick is still a heavy guy. Not to mention that it's a little _awkward_ trying to keep an unconscious naked body upright."

"Patience, Damon," Caroline snaps. "It's not like you have anything better to do, anyways. You certainly can't get out of there until the second spell is complete."

"Caroline, they may be vampires, but I'm just a witch and I'm having a _lot_ of trouble keeping Jeremy upright," Bonnie says in exasperation. "Anyone who touches the chalk will be stuck to that spot until the second spell is complete. And that includes these three. So think you could hurry it up a little? Anyone inside the diagram is going to have their natural magical resources tapped for this next spell and I don't know what that would do to a body that's just been raised from the dead. I don't really feel like testing it and finding out. I don't think they have that much magical resources in them and if I drain it all away, they will die _again._ And that raise the dead spell is a one time event for each ghost that is pulled back from the Other Side. So I'd really rather not take the chance of losing them again."

"Okay, okay," Caroline says. She approaches Bonnie first, since she's having the most trouble with keeping her naked supernatural from touching the chalk lines. She carefully scoops Jeremy into her arms and carries him over to one of the couches. "Should I cover him with something?" she asks.

"_After_ you get the other two, Blondie. Then you can find a blanket or something for each of them," I snap. "You know where the linen closet is, or you better. You spend enough time in this house."

"Whatever," Caroline says, coming to me to fetch Rick. I heave him up into my arms and pass him over to her. "Jeez!" she exclaims as she takes his full weight. "You weren't kidding about him being heavy!"

"I wouldn't kid about something like that," I retort.

She carefully circles the diagram to take Rick to the other couch. She then goes to Stefan to retrieve Lexi. Since we're fresh out of available couches down here, Blondie opts to put Lexi in one of the chairs. _Thankfully_ not my chair. Caroline knows better than to allow anyone to sit in my chair.

"When they first wake up, they'll be considerably weakened from how they were when they died," Bonnie says.

"Define 'considerably weakened'," I command.

"Lexi and Rick are only going to be no better than if they were human. Jeremy is going to pretty much be helpless for a bit. Over the course of about a week after they wake up, they'll regain their old strength, stamina, speed, and so on. They just got resurrected after being dead for a prolonged period of time. No one should expect them to be anywhere near peak condition when they wake up. If they think they can act as if they were just as healthy and robust as just before they died, the spirits said we should go ahead and knock a little sense into them. The spirits are very big on knocking sense into someone when it's called for. Trust me on that," she says, her expression saying she has firsthand experience on how the spirits knock sense into someone.

"You mean I get to knock Lexi around for a change?" I ask brightly. "Things are actually looking better by the minute."

"You should remember that she's _will_ get her old strength back before you go gung ho on her," Bonnie reminds me

"Getting the chance to be stronger than Lexi even for a bit is going to be so worth whatever payback she decides to pull off," I assure her. "You know, I think we might be able to surprise Elena by answering her three conditions to turning her humanity back on," I remark dryly, glancing over at Jeremy. "Once her brother puts some clothes on, that is," I amend. "Wouldn't want to surprise her _that_ much." Bonnie and Caroline chuckle while Stefan just shakes his head at me. "Okay, I'm so ready to get out of this circle that seems to be becoming increasingly smaller the longer I stand here. Let's get cracking with the second spell."

"You're going to feel as if your energy is being drained. In a way, it is going to be drained some. But unlike those three, you two have had your magical resources building up since the second you were born as humans. Which means you each have a considerable stockpile of magical resources. You guys tap those resources to use your vampire Powers. As a witch, I can tap them for help in casting a spell. What I drain away from you two for this spell will be easily restored with rest and some blood. Don't go trying to press your limits for a couple of days, get plenty of rest and some blood during that time, and you won't get hit by any of the side-effects of having your magical resources tapped by a witch," she says.

"Side-effects?" I ask dubiously.

"If you try to tap the full strength of your Power, you will end up over-tapping because of the missing magical resources that I will drain to cast this spell. It'll be a lot like when a human overextends themselves physically, only the effects will be from to much mental exertion. Moderate to severe headache, blurry vision, dizziness, fatigue, light-headedness and possibly even fainting if you push it too hard. My advice is that you just take it easy, drink plenty of blood, and wait for your magical resources to come back. Give it about three days and you'll be ready to go full swing," she says. "I'm going to be a lot worse off than you two, since I'm casting this spell on top of the last one. I'm going to be pretty helpless for a few days. I won't even be able to light a candle. That was the first spell I learned, and I figured it out on my own. So, I'm going to be pretty useless as a witch for until I recover from severely overextending myself. But when we do this, we're going to seal Silas back in that tomb he should still be rotten in. And we are also going to sink the island to the ocean floor."

"We're going to sink an island?" I ask incredulously.

"We're going to sink an island," she confirms. "And Silas will be entombed in that island. Should anyone be on that island, they will be unfortunate casualties to a very good cause. The spirits don't want to risk Silas being set free again. So, we're going to send him back to his tomb, turn him back to stone, level the island flat, then sink it all the way to the same level as the Challenger Deep, which is nearly eleven kilometers below the ocean surface. It is the deepest point in Earth's oceans. After we lower Silas' island that far, we are _then_ going to magically add dirt on top of it to match the surrounding ocean floor. The spirits would rather we put Silas in the Earth's core, but no mortal witch could handle that kind of magic, no matter _how_ many people she tapped. She'd only end up draining those she's tapping to the point of death and then dying from the overload herself long before he got to the core. As it is, the three of us are going to feel really lousy for a few days but we will survive and we will bounce back."

"Six point eight three miles down will work for me," I chuckle, having rapidly converted kilometers to miles in my head. Easy math for a vampire. "And we'll be burying him under more dirt, too. _If_ he's ever found again, it won't be for a few million years to come. I don't plan on being on this planet then. The space race will have definitely colonized the stars by then."

"As far as the spirits can see, this is going to last until Earth is eaten up by the sun. And then he'll cease to be a problem because not even a true immortal can handle _that_ heat," Bonnie says with a smile. "Caroline, if they wake up while the spell is still going, keep them _out_ of the diagram by any means necessary."

"And keep Jeremy up here, away from Elena, I want to personally grant her three wishes," I add with a smirk. "I want to personally see the look on her face when she realizes that we brought him back to her."

"Will do," Caroline says, smiling. "You're plans to surprise her are always fun to watch, so I'll even do what you ask, Damon. Nobody touches the diagram and Jeremy has to wait to see Elena even if I have to knock him out again. Got it."

Bonnie gets a wicked smirk on her lips. "If anyone shows up _insisting_ on interfering with the spell, let them step on the diagram. I'd _love_ to use Silas' Power against him," she says. "Try to keep them away, but if they _insist,_ don't block them."

I smirk grimly at that. Stefan chuckles darkly and Caroline lets out a delighted giggle. "I'll make sure to obey _that_ order," Caroline agrees.

"Okay, you two, get in the exact center of your circles and close your eyes. You'll feel the natural instinct to fight having your Power drained away, but you _can't._ I need your magical resources more than you do right now. You have to trust that I won't drain you to the point of death." I raise a hand and wave it. "Yes, Damon, I _know_ it will be hard for you to just _trust_ that, considering our history. But Elena rip me to pieces herself if I killed you. I'd rather _not_ face her fangs a second time, thank you. And she didn't even have her full fury behind the first time. She will kill everyone in this room except Jeremy if we let you die. And she might even give Jeremy a good solid beating, even though he's passed out. Remember, it was _you_ she called out to when she thought I was going to kill her. You. She didn't call out for me to stop. She didn't ask Stefan for help. Her exact words were 'Damon, help me'. Even when her heart's on lockdown, so to speak, she still trusts you more than everyone else in the world combined. And don't forget that _you're_ the one she's requested to see while she's been locked up and _Stefan_ would have been physically _thrown_ from the cell if she wasn't dosed on vervaine and denied of blood. She came damn close to true fury when she verbally whipped him out of the room. Then she turned right around and demanded to know why you won't show your face to her. In my mind, that's saying something pretty damn clearly. But if you aren't able to figure it out for yourself, then I'm not going to be the one to say what she should say herself. So, will you trust that I don't want to bring that much pain to my best friend again after just bringing back the whole reason she ended up locked up down in the basement? Because, I assure you, you and Jeremy are tied at the top spot of her list of most important people in her life. You saw what happened when she lost one person in that top spot. We just brought him back. I'm not about to go through the whole thing again for any reason. Because if you die and it's my fault, I won't be around long enough to _explain_ that I can bring you back, much less actually _do_ so. So, can we start now? Because the three of us are _stuck_ in these circles until this second spell is complete," she asks.

I consider what she said. The thought that Elena values me _just_ as much as she values her brother is a little overwhelming, to be honest. I sigh and position myself in the exact center of my circle, facing directly at the little black candle. Stefan and Bonnie do the same. "Let's get this show on the road," I say at last. "It's not like I have much choice in the matter. I don't want to be stuck in this two foot circle forever."

"Well, that's as good a reason for your cooperation as any, I guess," Bonnie sighs.

"Believe me, Judgy, that's the best you're going to get," I assure her. "So, what do I do?"

"Just stand there and _don't_ fight the feeling of having your Power being drained away, no matter how hard your instincts try to tell you to. Remember, I need your magical resources, what you vampires call your Power, to lock Silas up in a place he will never be found. He's the one who snapped Jeremy's neck. We will deal with the other half of the duo that murdered him once the bigger threat is safely out of the way. And I can't having you fighting me as I tap into your Power. It will be restored to you with rest and blood _after_ the spell is complete," she says. "I know damn well I'm not a powerful enough witch to force your cooperation against your will and I won't be able to tap your Power without your continued consent as you consciously fight the instinct to resist. Maybe one day I'll have the magical strength to override your willpower with my own, but that day isn't today. I give my witch's oath that I won't drain you to the point of death. But I will need a considerable portion of both of your Powers."

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. When a witch or warlock gives a witch's oath, they are magically bound to hold true to their word. Each supernatural species has their own type of oath that magically binds them to the words they speak in it. Vampires have the blood oath, witches and warlocks have the witch's oath, werewolves have the pack oath. I don't know what oath hybrids have, but I'm sure they are required by the laws that govern the supernatural aspect of this universe to have an oath that magically binds them to their word just like the rest of us.

"Well, if you're giving your witch's oath on this, then I give my blood oath that I will do my damnedest to fight the instinct to resist you stealing my Power," I say with a sigh.

"I give my blood oath to do the same," Stefan agrees.

"Uh, I have a question," Caroline says.

"I'll explain the oaths _after_ the spell, Blondie," I reply, rolling my eyes.

"You better," she mutters.

"Okay, little miss witch, begin the spell any time you're ready," I say, ignoring Caroline's last comment. I cross my eyes and turn my eyes to the black candle in the center of this little diagram.

Bonnie lights the candle with her magic before she begins to chant again. Somehow, _this_ spell _feels_ older, more primordial, than the last one. I only have enough time to register that sensation before I find out _just_ what it feels like to have a witch tapping my Power. And the 'instinct' she spoke of isn't like a normal, _human_ definition of the word. It's the kind of instinct only vampires and hybrids can experience. And it's one of the most _unnatural_ things to fight against you could ever imagine. It's the instinct a vampire has to _fight_ to keep their living non-living status the same. 'Well, damn,' I think as I grit my teeth and fight it back with every last ounce of self-control and willpower I have built up in my hundred-and-seventy years walking this planet. The more I feel my Power fade, the stronger the instinct becomes, the harder it is to fight it. I dredge up even more of my considerable stubborn streak. I frantically try to think of something that will help me stay true to my blood oath, cause _breaking_ your racial oath is the one thing no supernatural being does and lives to tell the tale.

Then I remember the sight of Elena collapsed in grief and pain so immense she truly couldn't handle it, all because the monster we are trying to seal away forever had snapped her little brother's neck after a quick wake-me-up feast of his blood. That image overrides every other thought and instinct in me, _including_ the one to fight Bonnie as she taps into my Power. I focus on that image, reminding myself that the bastard who came so close to destroying such an amazing spirit as Elena's is going to _pay_ for it for the rest of Earth's existence and will be eaten up by the sun in the end. All I have to do is let Bonnie tap my Power to make it happen. I focus grimly on that image, using it to keep everything else at bay.

The tempo and volume of Bonnie's Wiccan chant increases just as steadily as she drains my Power. My Power can be easily replenished, I remind myself. This is my only chance to extract vengeance on one of the murderous duo involved in nearly destroying Elena. The other can be dealt with easily and at a later date; _this_ one is much too powerful to face head-on. I keep my eyes on the black candle as it steadily burns lower and lower, somehow melting evenly across the top. I don't know if it's a part of the spell or part of the old legend about black candles, but the melted wax vanishes before it can spill over the edge of the top of the candle. As the candle comes close to being used up, I notice the drain on my Power starts to lessen. A final shouted word and the drain on my Power finally stops, leaving me at about half-strength. Which is a pretty substantial amount of my Power drained away, considering just how _much_ Power I started this night with. The block candle is now a flat disk of black wax. The flame on the candle flickers once before dying.

"It is done," Bonnie breathes, sounding more exhausted than I've _ever_ heard her. "Someone, throw that disk of wax in the fire. The flames will turn it into nothingness, _permanently_ sealing the spell in place. I need to find a bed and get some sleep. The diagram can be cleaned up if you want. It is only used for the two spells we did tonight and no other."

I look at the witch and see that she _looks_ as tired as she _sounds._ I glance at my brother and see he's in pretty rough shape himself. His Power is considerably smaller than mine due to the diet he's kept for the majority of his years as a vampire. "Witch, Steffie, you two go upstairs and find a bed to crash in. Blondie and I will take care of things down here," I say decisively. Stefan looks ready to protest while Bonnie tiredly staggers in the direction of the staircase. "Blondie, you should help the witch find a bed, she looks ready to fall asleep right where she's standing. When you're done putting her to bed, get back down here to help with cleanup duty." Caroline immediately moves to assist Bonnie upstairs to a bed. Stefan, however, opens his mouth to protest going to bed. I cut him off before he can speak. "Stefan, for _once_ in your damned life do as I say without fighting over it. You don't look to be in any better shape than Judgy is. Caroline and I can handle things down here and keep watch over the sleepyheads. I'll think about catching you a rabbit after I'm sure things are in order. Remember, because of the difference in our diets, _my_ Power is considerably greater than yours. I'm only at half-mast. I can handle taking care of cleaning up and watching over these guys. _You_, however, look like you're on your lest dregs. Go upstairs, find your bed, and get some sleep. If I'm not up to hunting rabbits later, I'll fix you a glass of animal blood from the fridge and leave it on your nightstand. Now go. I promise you, the house will still be standing and everyone will still be in their various statuses of alive or undead when you wake up. You are no better than a human right now which _means_, if I were so inclined, I _could_ actually _compel_ you to do as I'm telling you to do. Don't put up a fight over this because I _will_ do it if you don't give in. Don't forget what happened _last_ time you were in a state like this. That time may have been an accident, but this time sure as hell won't be one even though it won't end any differently. You _are_ going to get some rest even if I have to _compel_ you into doing so."

And with that, the fight leaves Stefan. The last time he was in a state like this and tried to butt heads with me, I _did_ use compulsion to force him to do what he needed to do to get in better shape. Admittedly, it was an accident, like I said, but it worked. He makes his way for the stairs at a human pace. I listen as Caroline finally gives up on just helping Bonnie walk up the stairs and actually scoops the witch up and vamps her up to a spare bedroom. I'm not going to humiliate Stefan anymore than I just did by doing the same to him. He's still steady enough on his feet to make it upstairs and to his bed on his own, even if he is doing it at human speed.

As soon as I'm sure that Stefan _will_ be able to manage the stairs on his own, I proceed to begin cleaning up after the spell. First thing I do is vamp to the kitchen to get a mop and fill a bucket with soapy water so that I can clean up the diagram. I know enough about magic and spells to know better than to leave something like _that_ on the floor. Magical diagrams are very powerful things and shouldn't be left in place after the spells that requires them is cast. As I carry the mop and bucket back into the living room, I note that the white chalk marks had turned the same shade of purple as the flames that had erupted from them during the first spell. I shake my head and proceed to mop them up, grateful that there aren't any burn marks on the wood floor beneath them. I had this mahogany put down in the fifties and it cost nearly twenty grand to get the majority of the boarding house covered in it. Back then, that was a _lot._

Caroline comes back downstairs as soon as Bonnie is tucked in and passed out. "Okay, what do you want me to do?" she asks.

"First, get that little black wax disc and toss it in the fire like Judgy said to so we can make sure the spell sticks," I say. Caroline looks nervously at the thing. "Trust me, Blondie, that thing's not going to hurt you. Judgy would have tossed it in the fire herself if it were dangerous to us. I know enough about witches and their spells, not to mention Judgy herself, to know that a witch or warlock who walks the good side like our witch would _never_ put others in danger by asking them to clean up after their spells. They'd clean it up themselves, no matter _how_ much the spell takes out of them."

"Well, Silas showed up for all of five seconds before screaming in pain and literally vanishing into thin air as he was turning to stone," Caroline comments, making her way to the little black disc of wax. She picks it up then takes it over to the fireplace to throw in the fire.

"Oh, really?" I ask, amused. "Did you get a look at his real face?"

"He raised his hands to hide his face just as his illusions were broken," she replies. "So, sadly, _that_ will remain an eternal mystery. Anyways, the little disc is vanishing as it melts, as Bonnie said it would. So, now what do you want me to do?"

"Go to the linen closet and get three blankets to wrap these guys in. It's a little disturbing to look around my living room and see three naked people knocked out in it," I say pointedly, scrubbing away the last of the diagram.

She heads back upstairs to the linen closet. "When do you think they'll wake up?" she asks as she picks out three blankets.

"If what I know about waking up from the dead, even the temporary death of a vampire with a snapped neck or a vampire in transition, is anything to go by, I'd say anywhere from eight hours from now to sometime tomorrow evening. Given how long they were dead, I'd put my money on sometime late tomorrow afternoon or evening," I reply, looking around to make sure I got all the chalk marks. "We'll have to wait until the floor dries before putting everything back where it goes. But at least the diagram is gone," I comment, taking the mop and bucket back to the kitchen. I dump the dirty water down the sink, then stick the mop back in the bucket and return them to their spots just inside the larder.

I return to fetch the glass punch bowl of magic supplies and return it to the kitchen counter. When I return to the living room, I note that Caroline is browsing the selection in the alcohol cabinet. "Ugh, where's the vodka?" she groans. "I seriously need a drink."

I roll my eyes and walk over to pick out a good bottle for her. "Here you go," I say, handing it to her. "They're organized alphabetically by type and then chronologically by year, so you know where to look next time. It saves time rifling through all the bottles trying to find what you're looking for."

"Thanks," she says, taking the bottle before going to find a place to sit down.

I sigh. "I'm gonna go put a couple bottles of water in the cell with Elena," I say, heading first to the kitchen to grab the bottles before making my way to the basement. I had heard her disgust right as she requested water for tomorrow rather than a human meal and a glass of juice. I don't look through the barred window before I unbolt the door and swing it open. What do you know? Elena chose to stretch out across the doorway to sleep rather than the nice comfy bed. The princess theme was Stefan's idea, not mine. I knew just how much she would hate it, but I wasn't going to fight over it. I step over her to place the bottles of water on the little table the tray of untouched food and barely touched drink is sitting on. I then turn and lift her into my arms and carry her over to the bed and tuck her in, taking a good look at the outfit she chose from the clothes Rebekah brought for her as I carry her. "Tomorrow, everything will be made right again, darling," I tell her softly as I lay her on the bed, making sure to keep my voice low enough that she doesn't wake up. I carefully tuck her in and brush a strand of hair behind her ear. She lets out a pleased sigh and smiles in her sleep. When she's asleep is the only time her locked away humanity breaks free of its cage to show on her face. With a sigh, I turn, pick up the tray of food I had prepared for her last night, and make my way out of the cell. I lock the door behind me one last time, determined to make sure that her humanity comes back tomorrow as I grant her three wishes.

I carry the tray upstairs to the kitchen to put the food in storage containers. It's all food that's good cold because she was right about it being cold down in the basement. Hot food wouldn't _stay_ hot for very long down there. I then put the containers in the fridge as well as her glass of juice. I understand why she wasn't able to eat the food and could only handle a swallow of the juice. The longer a vampire goes without blood, the more revolting human food and drink becomes. Not to mention that the double-dose of vervaine in her system will only heighten the effect. Blood is the only cure for a vampire dosed on vervaine. Otherwise it just stays in our system indefinitely. It's been painful to keep her locked down there in as much pain as she's in and withhold the blood she needs to both survive and get the vervaine out of her system. But tomorrow, when the three friends we just brought back from true death wake up, I'll grant Elena's three wishes personally. Maybe a little out of order, but that's beside the point.

I make my way to the living room, pick up my glass of bourbon from the end table I had left it on a few hours ago, and take a seat in my chair to wait out the hours before the sleepyheads wake up. Caroline and I silent agree to stay quiet and wrapped in our own thoughts. Tomorrow's the day I finally get Elena back from the emotionally dead. It's only a matter of time. And considering I have eternity ahead of me, I can be patient and wait a day while everyone rests. My patience has been on thin ice since the day in New York when Elena had let Rebekah snap my neck. But now it finally feels like I'm back on solid ground once again.

* * *

Sarah: I'm thinking of changing the title of this fanfic. Anyone care to help me come up with a new one? Drop me a review, tell me what you think of the chapter, and tell me what you think I should change the title to. If I like your idea enough, I'll give you a shout-out and use it.


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